#BUYNOTHINGXMAS

Opt-out of the consumer fest that the holidays have become, the weeks of overconsumption that leave you feeling empty. Quit performing out of habit.

Think back to your fondest memories, those moments of real joy.

What might the holidays be like if you refused to hit the mall … let your friends know that you’re not accepting gifts (and not giving any either) … give back to people in real need … and if you do have to give a gift go indie or go rogue … make it yourself … inject some life back into that sedated and automatic sense of time.

If you’re in a jamming mood, try walking around a mall, very slowly, wearing an anonymous (or Jesus) mask to create some cognitive dissonance.

The holidays are a social ritual, precious days intended to remind us of the many ways that we are connected to the earth and to each other. Let’s restore our sense of gratitude for what we already have, gesture at the brevity of life … so that we don’t lose sight of its sacredness.

… all of our cultural rituals now warped beyond recognition by commercial forces can be restored to their original authenticity … if we’re going to have any kind of a future we will have to reclaim them all, together … try #BUYNOTHINGXMAS and experience the anti-consumerist epiphany you’ve been waiting for …

Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries

RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP is a daily-updated blog committed to being collective (welcoming a multiplicity & diversity of voices), convictional (unapologetically theological), constructive (creating a new world out of the shell of the old) and concrete (covering a range of personal to political practices, from reformist to revolutionary).